WESTMINSTER (Labour Buzz) - Deaths continue to climb, the return to schools policy has descended into chaos, people are demonstrating on the streets and latest OECD projections show the UK is likely to suffer the worst economic impact of any developed nation.
As it happens that last little nugget didn’t get a look in. Indeed, for much of the session Starmer seemed uncharacteristically subdued. Opening questions about racial equality in the UK and the lack of progress on landmark studies into inequality were relatively easily deflected.
The Prime Ministers response was that, despite years of inaction, the Government was working on it. Starmer’s promise to scrutinise the Government’s future actions sounded a little timid. However, the gloves were about to come off as they moved onto the Government’s handling of Covid 19.
Covid pride
Starmer had two open goals on Covid19 and he took them both. He asked why Johnson was proud that the UK had the second highest number of deaths in the world.
Johnson’s reply was desperate as he sought to take credit for driving down deaths, which is a bit like the Captain of the Titanic hailing the success of his iceberg mitigation strategies as water laps around his feet.
Schools fiasco
Starmer swiftly moved on. In a week when the Government had been forced to abandon plans to get all primary school children back before the summer holidays due to a lack of space in the classrooms, his question was simple: how had they not seen this coming? As a result, thousands of children were facing the prospects of six months without school, something which is already increasing inequality. He again raised his offer of setting up a ‘Schools Taskforce’.
Johnson flipped his panic button, criticising Starmer for not showing support, and claiming to have had lengthy conversations via ‘a piece of technology called the telephone’.
Starmer angrily responded that they had not discussed the taskforce or any of these issues over the phone. It was as close as he’s ever come to flat out calling the Prime Minister a liar.
The Labour leader also pressed Johnson on free school meal vouchers. Wales had promised to extend the scheme through the summer, but England had not. He wanted to know if Johnson would change his decision.
Johnson claimed that he had, instead, given councils powers to help vulnerable families ‘at their discretion’ during the summer months.
Race
Starmer had several questions on race. He highlighted the Government’s tendency to commission reports and then take no action on the findings. The most recent case was the report which the Government, reluctantly, published into the disproportionate impact of Covid 19 on people from BAME backgrounds.
Despite the report from Public Health England stating that it is already clear that relevant guidance should be adapted to mitigate the risk. Why had no action been taken yet, asked Starmer, and when would that change?
Johnson offered up a few promises resting his hopes on Dido Harding and his much-mocked test and trace system.
Trump’s good points
The biggest blow, though, might have been landed by the SNPs Kirsty Blackman who wanted to know if the Prime Minister believed Donald Trump still had good qualities and, if so, what they were.
Johnson responded by claiming that the USA (the country which has started more wars over the past century than anyone else in the world) had been ‘a bastion of peace and freedom’.
At a time when US police have been gassing peaceful protestors, the President has attacked press freedoms and threatened to shut down Twitter for fact checking his Tweets, that defence looked frail even by his standards.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey pinned Johnson on stop and search. Black people are more than 40 times more likely to be stopped and searched, he said. “Would the Prime Minister stop this damaging policy?”
Johnson simply blinked and insisted stop and search worked. Evidence of course, has shown that the policy’s is not particularly effective at its main aim of reducing crime by deterring criminals.
Following the science
The Prime Minister is particularly fond of claiming he follows the science. It was unfortunate for him, then, that Ian Blackford MP reminded him that he had told the Liaison Committee that he ‘does not actually read the scientific papers’. The scientific advisory group ‘wasn’t asked for advice on a significant policy.’
He asked what advice he had read on the social distancing rule. Johnson claimed he had definitely read papers and claimed the two metre rule would be under ‘constant review.’ This was despite the scientific advice showing that the risks at one metre are much higher than at two.
Beer Gardens
In other questions we learned that Tory MP Peter Aldous is really missing beer gardens. His concern, of course (as is all of ours) is the economic impact on pubs rather than the increasingly alarming prospect of a beer garden free summer.
Johnson assured him that the current plan is for hospitality businesses to be open no earlier than the 4th of July, so the good news for Peter is that his first pub pint, could be only weeks away.
Who won?
Once again, this session showed Johnson’s failures for all to see. He doesn’t read the science, he ignores advice, and fails to spot problems which are clear to everyone else. Once again, when pressed on these matters, he crumbles back into the petulant teenager his teachers at Eton complained about. At a time of national crisis, we have an arrogant man child in Number 10 and if that doesn’t worry us, it really should.
(Written by Tom Cropper, edited by Michael O'Sullivan)